Oblivion, A Woodsman's Story

[Cartell]

I write this, to tell the story of a simple woodsman. Of my life during one of Cyrodill's darkest moments, and how I met him, the champion of Cyrodill, who saved us all.


As the sun slowly slipped down behind the mountains, I slipped an arrow onto my bow, the deer I had been stalking all day had finally stopped to drink within arrow range. I crawled closer, sweat dripping down my face as I aimed, and fired. My years of living in the forests of Cyrodill had finally paid off, as I was able to watch with satisfaction as the arrow hit its mark. The deer stumbled, and then fell into the pool of water. With my dinner for the night lying dead by the pool, I was finally able to stand up and stretch my aching muscles. As I got to the edge of the pool, the blood was seeping into the pool. Paying less attention to my surroundings, and more to attention to my growling stomach, I failed to notice as the sky around me began to darken. As I bent down to begin skinning my supper, I was knocked on my butt by a nearby explosion. As I looked over to my left I saw a huge jagged piece of rock emerging out of the ground. It continued to rise and when it was about thirty feet high, it was filled with huge red mist. A sixth sense, earned from years of fighting, made me grab my bow and ready an arrow. Unsure of what the monstrosity was, I wouldn't be caught sleeping. As I turned, arrow notched and arm pulled back, several small scaly humanoids came running out of the mist, and charged me. What in the name of Oblivion? As that thought ran through my head, I loosed my first arrow. One of the scaly creatures fell, blood spouting from an arrow wound in its neck. I went to grab another arrow, but before I could notch it, one of the two remaining creatures leapt at me. I dropped flat, reached back and drew my battered claymore from its case. I stood up and thrust forward in one motion, slamming it into the chest of another creature. As I went to draw it out of the creature, it was stuck. With a quick duck, I missed a fireball that one of things had launched and pulled my spare dagger out of my boot. A fireball? What in Talos' name are these creatures? But, they were killable, so I quickly dove behind a tree, another fireball flying past. I waited as the thing crept forward, towards my cover, and when it was close enough, I lunged. I leap out from behind the tree, jumped towards the creature, and slammed my dagger into its open mouth. The battle was over, thank Juilianos, but that thing was still there the red mist. It would not be good to tarry long here, so I gave a whistle for Edward. My horse appeared and I loaded the three dead creatures on his back, went over to the dead deer, loaded it on his back, and slowly walked back to camp.


Perhaps I should tell you a little about myself. My name is Japheth. To look at me you would see nothing special, just another Redguard living in the forest. I was average height, and my black hair has always been shaved down to stubble. I know many skills, but the ones most important to me have always been the ones I need to hunt and survive. My bow, and my claymore, get me both food and keep me alive. (My dagger is there for a last resort, and as a result I am not very good with it) My mortar and pestle make many potions, both to kill my dinner and heal or revive me. My sneaking, enabling me to stalk my dinner. Yes, I know some magic too; however I rarely use it as I do not trust the magical world. The magic’s I know would be those of destruction, and restoration, both to heal me and damage my enemies. Lastly, I wear the light armor of the woods. Those were the skills I leaned to towards birth, but several others have become important to me simply through repeated use. My armorer’s hammers receive much use, and the rare times when I go into towns, I need to know how to barter, to achieve the maximum result from what little I have to sell, and what little gold I have.

I arrived, a few hours later I arrived back at my home. Not much, it was a small tent with a site for a campfire, but I loved it. Away from the misery of the city, I lived free and enjoyed my life. My home was right near the bank of a waterfall, and the pools that the waterfall fell from and into were full of fish, giving me another steady supply of food. When you rely on hunting to get your meals, it's nice to know that if you fail, you have a supply of fish back home. I threw the three dead creatures off Edwards back. Moving to the one with my claymore still stuck in its back, I was now able to pull it out. Wiping the blood off in the grass, I cleaned up my weapons, gathered the shot arrows, and began to skin my deer. An hour or so later, several nice junks of venison lay cooking on a spit over the warm fire. With the sweet aroma of cooking meat wafting around my campsite, I began to examine one of the dead creatures. I noticed that they were skin-able, and by the time my dinner was done cooking, I had a nice pile of skin. Figuring I could use it for something, I put in storage, which for me was a holed out tree near my campsite. Pulling the cooked venison off of the spits, I sat down and began to eat my hard earned meal. That night, as I prepared to sleep, I determined to make my yearly trip into town early this year. Both totry and figure out what had caused the sky to turn red, and rocks to explode out of the ground, and to figure out if anyone knew what those creatures had been.

That's a start. If you like it, let me know and I'll add more. If you have any ideas for it, pm them to me, and maybe I'll throw them in.

[Tool]

good story. i also am in the process of writing a story inspired but loosely based on actual events in the game. it's 18 pages (double-spaced) about hunting a vampire. i have looked into getting it published, but with the amount of references to the elder scrolls material, I doubt it would legally print. I've tried to change aspects of it to erase all references to the game, but then the story just straight up sucks.

i'm also writing a newspaper tabloid following the events of my character. it rivals the Blackhorse Carrier, but I in no way, shape, or form use it to get info. I've "covered" all the major events so far that I have done. It's turned out to be pretty good.

anyway, keep up with your stories. with the game as big as it is, there is so much to write about. if I were you, I would focus more on the killing scene. you kill the deadroths, but you do so too fast in words. slow it down a bit. dig deeper into what your character is mentally going through. also, add a bit more drama. deadroths are pretty tough monsters and they aren't easily killable. i like the dagger through the mouth, but your character shouldn't be able to kill all 3 that easily. make it an "epic" fight.

you have the makings of writing a good story. keep at it.

[King Malus]

Cartell: Nice story!! I agree with tool though. I would make the fight scene more dramatic. I dunno, make your character get hurt or something. Again, I LOVE your story. I myself am creating my own fanfiction that follows the story of my Dark Elf Assassin, and how she becomes the Champion of Cyrodiil, and falls in love with the Heir. Keep up the good work.

Tool: Sounds to me like your trying to become a serious author. Good! heres a suggestion. have you ever seen books that are based around video games such as halo? how about you try to look up how they published their books?

[Cartell]

Thanks for the advice....But I've kinda stopped this story all together... If you really want to help with tips/ advice I would love to hear what you think about Gaiaterra. Which is also posted on this forum. @ Tool, They weren't deadroths they were scamps... hence the not so epic fight.